Articles about Pinfire Ammunition
The pinfire cartridge was one of the earliest forms of ammunition. It was one of the very first fully-self-contained cartridges and provided the basis of modern ammunition.
W. Tibbals Revolving Firearms Patent
One of the most famous American ammunition manufacturers was William Tibbals. William Tibbals was the partner in the company, Crittenden & Tibbals, who supplied mostof the rimfire ammunition during the American Civil War. Part of what made Crittenden & Tibbals … Continue reading
The Smallest Pinfire Cartridges
This article will take a look at some of the smallest pinfire cartridges. The 2mm pinfire cartridge showed up around 1880. This is when Société Française des Munitions began producing the variations shown in the first two pictures above. These … Continue reading
Pinfire Cartridge Variations from the White & Munhall Laboratory
When it comes to pinfire cartridges, everything is a variation. Though there are thousands and thousands of variations, in this article we will focus on the 80 that came from the White & Munhall reference collection. Henry P. White & … Continue reading
Eley’s Earliest Shotshell Patent
Pinfire shotshells first show up in an Eley price list on 31 August 1860, It was in a trade journal called The Ironmonger & Metal Trades Advertiser. They listed 1000 12g shotshells for 50 shillings as well as 1000 16g … Continue reading
The Earliest Pinfire Cartridges and Pistols
This article will take a look at some of the earliest pinfire pistol cartridges. The best way to explain these will be to look at them with the guns they were designed for. The earliest examples were shotshells that were … Continue reading
Casimir Lefaucheux Patent 8955
Here is the only copy of a patent by Casimir Lefaucheux that is known to exist in a private collection. This is French patent number 8955. It was filed on 26 July 1850 and approved on 23 October 1850. It … Continue reading
Eley Cartridge Board with Pinfires!
I recently picked up an early Eley Cartridge Board with all 5 pinfire pistol cartridge sizes on it. Some of the other notable cartridge on it are the .44 Henry rimfire and the Spencer rimfires as well as the .577 … Continue reading
Bracelet made for carrying pinfire cartridges
Here is a neat little pinfire carrying bracelet I picked up recently. It is all leather with a brass clasp and securely holds 13 cartridges!
Norwegian M/64/98 Lefaucheux Pinfire Revolver with Military Cartridge Box
This is an example of one of the scarce pinfire boxes made by Société Française des Munitions for the Norwegian military as well as one of the Norwegian military Lefaucheux pinfire revolvers. In 1859 the Norwegian Navy ordered a handful … Continue reading
.58 Schubarth
I have finally acquired a .58 Schubarth! It is one of the more desirable American cartridges and seems to trade for insane prices. There are only around a dozen known to exist. It was patented and made in 1861 by … Continue reading
Collath Horizontal Pinfire Shotshells
Wilhelm Collath invented a shotshell variation that had a small pin that rested in a percussion cap half an inch into the case. The wider centerfire hammer would hit the pin which knocked it into the cap to set it … Continue reading
Nazi Pinfire cartridges during WWII
In March of 1938, the “Anschluss” took control of the company, Hirtenberger Patronen Zunhutchen & Metallwarenfabrik A.-G. of Hirtenberg, Austria and incorporated it into the Wilhelm Gustloff Foundation, which was a group owned by the Nazi Party. On April 29, 1939 … Continue reading
Explosive Pinfire Cartridges
Here are some pinfire cartridges with explosive bullets. The two on the right are definitively made using Eugene Pertuiset’s patented formula by SFM. The rest are also thought to be. In the late 1860s a Frenchman names Eugene Pertuiset developed … Continue reading
New Russian Cartridges
I was able to add some new Russian pinfire cartridges to my collection. These were excavated from the ground in Ukraine. Information about these can be found on their Manufacturer’s Page Русская Патронная Фабрика and Я. Зимин I also … Continue reading
4 Gauge Pinfire Shotshell Box
This is one of the largest pinfire shotshells. There is also one, a 32mm shotshell, that is a little larger. These were used in large pinfire punt guns.
Eley 20g Pinfire Shotshell Box
This is a box I picked up recently 20 gauge pinfire shotshells manufactured by Eley Bros Ld. They date to the early 1900’s.
11mm and 8mm Pidault & Cordier (Raphael) Cartridges
What is commonly known as the Raphael cartridge was initially patented by a Frenchman named Charles Carroll Tevis in 1856. He was associated with a man named Pidault Martial and together they improved the patent and released the first Pidault … Continue reading
Gévelot’s First Pinfire Pistol Cartridge
Jules-Félix Gévelot was a close friend with Casimir Lefaucheux. He was given the original rights to make the earliest pinfire shotshells starting in the 1830’s. However in 1845, Jules Joseph Chaudun received a patent to make his pinfire pistol cartridges as shown … Continue reading
The First Pinfire Revolver Cartridge!
This is the very first pinfire revolver cartridge. It was manufactured by the gun maker, Jules Joseph Chaudun, in 1845 after he patented a new improvement to both Casimir Lefaucheux’s shot shell design and Jules Gévelot’s patent that simplified Casimir’s … Continue reading